A Hairsbreadth Away
by Kanna-Ophelia
Summary: Ranma's terror of cats leads to girltype Ranma and Akane becoming closer than ever before. But events don't necessarily progress smoothly from there. AkaneRanma with a touch of AkaneRyoga.
1. Here kitty kitty...

AN: This is a Ranma/Akane fic, but Ranma is somewhat frequently in her female form over the course of the story. If you have problems with femmeslash / yuri, this is probably the time to go find a hetfic in a fandom in which cold water is less of an issue.

For my own "true fiancee," who is to blame for my current Ranma-obsession.

**A Hairsbreadth Away**

The blame probably rested on Shampoo, in the end. Nabiki firmly denied having had anything to do with anything, and what kind of cur would doubt Nabiki's word?

Shampoo did later protest that a "strange girl" dressed in veils had, for the price of a trifling fortune, provided her with crucial information. The veiled woman had revealed that if Ranma received a "real" kiss in the moonlight at precisely 9:15, his heart would be for all eternity bound to the girl who kissed him. Other people might have difficulty swallowing such an unlikely story, but Shampoo had been whirling in the Saotome boy's orbit for long enough to know that around him, the more ridiculous a story, the more likely it was to be true.

The young man in question had been sitting on the roof of the Tendo dojo on that particular night, staring disconsolately at what few stars he could perceive through Tokyo's haze of pollution. He had quarreled with his most prominent fiancée again after school, and the atmosphere was still uncomfortably hostile. Not that it mattered if an unattractive girl like that was in a good mood towards him or not. After all, if she was so touchy as to take offence at a purely well-intentioned and friendly remark about how much weight she had been gaining lately, then that was _her_ problem. Yeah.

His sulky reveries were interrupted by a bicycle wheel almost crushing his spine

"What Ranma doing under Shampoo's bicycle?" Shampoo's big eyes were very blank and innocent, a sure sign of danger. And her bike had seemed suspiciously well-aimed, hitting the centre of his back with deadly force.

"Aaargh! Shampoo, what are you doing riding your bike on our roof?" He didn't really expect a reason or explanation, as he finally managed to wriggle free. He was becoming tired of being surrounded by crazy people. "You really shouldn't be here," he added firmly, glaring at the girl. _The last thing I need is another reason for Akane to be mad with me_, he added silently.

Shampoo gave him a radiant smile, apparently unconscious of the level of agony she had just put him through. "I so happy I find you in time!" she cooed. "Shampoo kiss you now, yes?" She did something complicated and blindingly fast. When she finished, Ranma was trapped under the bicycle again, this time with the Amazon's beautiful face inches from his own.

"Hang on a minute!" Ranma struggled to push her away, despite the weight of the bicycle and her own surprising strength. The same people who would doubtthe magical hour of a quarter pastninewould also doubt that any sixteen year old boy would resist a kiss from a gorgeous girl with pneumatic curves, but they would be unaware of Ranma's peculiarly complicated social life. All he could think of was the results if Akane was to come looking for him at this exact moment. And she might, if only in order to inform him one last time what a jerk he was. Akane had a preternatural ability to choose exactly the wrong moment to turn up.

"Shampoo no kiss Ranma," he said firmly, trying to wriggle out from her steel grip. "Look, I don't have the time for this tonight."

Shampoomerely giggled brightly, and leaned determinedly in towards his mouth. Ranma realised dimly that her parted lips were about to reach his, and her small pink tongue was gently protruding, with obvious intent. His struggles became more furious, despite an unwilling sense of fascination, and the treacherous thought thatas Shampoo was obviously unstoppable, the only sane thing to do was relax and let...

Slander to Nabiki or not, it was probably no coincidence that at that exact moment the couple were doused with a bucketload of icy water.

The unfortunate result of this was that the suddenly female Ranma, in one nightmarish moment, became convinced that she was aboutfind out what it was like tohave a cat's tongue in her mouth. Her shriek of pure horror reached its peak before morphing partway into a suspiciously feline yowl.

* * *

"Someone needs to get Ranma down!" Soun wailed, tears flowing copiously down his cheeks. We'll soon have no roof left, and my baby girls will die of the cold!" Another shower of debris fell from the roof, as Ranma's terrified, furious mews echoed through the night. She would have sounded quite pathetic, if she was not destroying the dojo with inhuman ferocity.

Kasumi absently stroked the shivering, soaked kitten in her arms. She may have had some suspicion that the little creature had something to do with Ranma's abrupt breakdown, but she was anything but a vindictive woman. "Oh dear,"she said in her dreamy, unconcerned way. "Ranmasounds very upset, doesn't she?" She tickled Shampoo under her chin, but to no avail; Shampoo was not in the mood to purr. Foronce in her life, she was considering whether discretion was indeed the better part of valour,while a female, preternaturally powerful Ranma who thought she was a cat was not worth lingering over.

It was highly unlikely that, even ifRanma thought _she_ was a cat, she could be persuaded to marry one at that precise moment.

Nabiki dragged the third sister, more or less by her cropped head of hair, out of the house. A small black pig scurried at their feat, squeaking crossly. "You have to," Nabiki was insisting. "You know you're the only one who can calm him down when he's like this." There was a curious smirk haunting her mouth.

Akane heaved a martyred sigh. She was aware, in the very secret recesses of her mind, of a shyly pleasurable pride in the way Ranma seemed to recognise and want her when he thought he was a cat. Or she was a cat, as the case would be now. But she was not going to admit to it, especially right now when they were on extremely bad terms.

Still, duty was duty.

She stood apart from the others and held her arms out invitingly. "Here, Ranma… Kitty kitty?" she called to the silhouette of her fiancé, framed crouching against the moon.

There was a still moment, and then Ranma sprang. Borne back under her weight, Akane found herself lying flat on the ground, with a purring, adoring girl swarming all over her. Her cheeks began to warm.

"Oh, you calmed her down!" Kasumi said happily, failing to react at all to the rather eyebrow-raising sight of the girls tangled together on the ground, with one nuzzling the other's cheek with feline kisses. "Well done, little sister!"

The kitten in Kasumi's arms was giving Akane a very nasty look, which affordedAkane a certain amount of comfort. Annoying Shampoo meant that she was doing something right, somehow. She didn't happen tonotice that only Nabiki kicking out at the crucial momenthad prevented P-chan latching onto Ranma's finger with sharp little teeth, but she would in any case have put it down to Ranma's habitual cruelty to the little pig.

"Oh, he recognises his fiancée again." There was more than a note of smugness in Soun's sentimental response. Shampoo squawked nastily at him, and leapt down from Kasumi's arms. She streaked off into the night, presumably in search of hot water. P-chan, recovering from the stunning kick, swore equally violently in pig language and followed her into the darkness.

Nabiki was smiling to herself. A detached observer might have noticed that she too seemed remarkably smug. That might, of course, have had something to do with the camera she had just stowed away in what were remarkably large pockets for such a tailored pair of pants. "Young love. It's just so cute," she drawled. "I guess you'll just have to look after her until she recovers her senses, Akane. But I'm sure you can manage," she added meaningfully.

Akane, who had managed to pull herself up to her knees, was cautiously stroking the ferociously purring girl curled up on her lap. She nodded uncertainly. "Yeah. I guess I'm stuck with her for a while." A reluctant smile played on her lips.

She would die before admitting it, but Ranma was definitely kind of cute when she was all kittenish and cuddly. At least she couldn't manage insulting remarks about other girls' figures in this state.

* * *

It was very late when Akane finally bestirred herself. She had let the time tick by because she was absorbed in her homework, and because it was cosy, reading in a warm room after the rest of the household had gone to bed. Not because she liked the feeling of her betrothed sprawled bonelessly across her lap. Of course not.

It did not help her state of mind to remember that the first time Ranma had been like this, he had kissed her. Not that he remembered, or that it counted, and he probably would have kissed anybody under the circumstances, but…

She realised the fingers of one hand were playing gently with a plaited pigtail, and snatched her hand back.

"Ranma, wake up!" She more sharply than she had intended, perhaps to counterbalance her unintended caress.Ranma lifted her head to look reproachfully at her, stretched in a way that pushed her breasts at a new angle against Akane's thighs, and settled straight down again.

"Ranma! Oh… kitty kitty kitty?" Akane tried in desperation.

This time Ranma lifted herself more fully up, and banged her face affectionately against Akane's skull.

"Ouch," Akane grumbled, managing to push Ranma off into a heap beside her, and scrambling to her feet before her companion could climb back onto her lap. "I would havesmacked you for that if I'd thought you meant it. Now, I'm going to bed," she announced. She glared downwards, holding her bruised head with one hand. Ranma looked lovingly and uncomprehendingly back up at her, andbatted atsome invisible toy in the air in front of her. "It's all very well acting cute like that, but don't think you're coming to bed with me, young… woman,"Akane said, mock-sternly. It was very difficult to be severe with someone who not only was convinced she was a cat, but who had made it abundantly clear that Akane was the only person who could offer comfort and happiness to her. "You're not really a cat, you know. You can sleep here."

Ranma rolled onto her back, batted her paws - no, hands - in the air, and purred. Akane sighed. She went to her room, shut the door, and tried to close her ears to the heartbroken yowling outside it. "Why me?" she demanded of the universe.

A few moments later, P-chan was fleeing Akane's bedroom in a flurry of outraged squeaks, while Ranma contentedly curled into a ball at Akane's feet. "Poor P-chan. Even when you think you're a cat, you manage to bully him atrociously," she scolded fondly, promising herself she would make it up to her other – she meant real - pet. "Well - goodnight. And I think I'm going to regret this… You better stay down there, you pervert." She pulled the covers around her.

It took a while to get to sleep with a human-shaped cat at her feet, but Akane was used to sleeping with a small black pig, after all. And Ranma's snores were slightly less deafening in girl form. Akane could feel sleep, as inviting as a pool of melted dark chocolate, waiting for her to sink in…

She was disturbed by a female slinking up to lie at her side, head snuggled on her shoulder. She started, and stared suspiciously into Ranma's drowsy face. Of course, it was foolish to expect a cat to stay at the foot of the bed just because she was told… Or it would be, ifRanma wasreally a cat, andshe was decidedly not one.The dark-haired girl glared suspiciously, but Ranma's face was innocently relaxed in repose, and her paws - hands - were curled up under her own breast, just like a sleepy kitten.She was utterly … adorable. Akane let the thought pass through her head, and then banished it.

"Go back to your place," Akane whispered. "Go on - shoo! Naughty kitty."

Ranma purred a little, and let her eyelids drop completely.

If Ranma really had been a cat like Shampoo, Akane rationalised, she would of course have kicked her back to the foot of the bed. But she was a well-built - very well-built - young woman, andstruggling in bed with a girl who thought she was a cat would be… undignified, and probably perverted. Nabiki would never let her live it down.

Besides… It felt nice, feeling another girl snuggled against her. Very nice. It reminded Akane of the years just after her mother's death, when nightmares would send her creeping into Kasumi's bed. Her sister would cuddle her close and she would drift off to sleep, feeling safe and loved, surrounded by feminine warmth. Akane had regretted becoming too old to go to her sister for comfort and cuddles when things went wrong, and having Ranma so close next to her gave her thatlost feeling ofsecure warmth.

Well, then.Ranma was, to all intents and purposes, currently more feline that Shampoo could ever be. No one could blame Akane for sharing a bed with a cat. It was a perfectly natural and reasonable thing to do, after all,nomore questionable than sleeping with P-chan; they were both innocent animals, incpabale of romantic or perverted feeling.There was the comfort of knowing that Ranma would not remember any of this afterwards, in any case; there would be no teasing and tormenting, no uncomfortable admissions. Akane could snuggle close, and no one would ever know.

_I think I like you better this way._

With that thought, Akane floated off to the sound of Ranma's sleepy purring.

* * *

The first thing Ranma was aware of, when she woke, was another presence in the bed with her, one arm thrown across her body. The second thing, following close and logically on the first,was a sensation of mad panic.

There had been occasions before when Ranma had woken up with someone in the bed next to her, or him, as the case might be, and it had never, _ever_ turned out well. Usually it had taken several days of apologies and beatings before Akane would speak to her again. Stupid violent tomboy - always assuming the worst…

And they had been getting along together so well until the disagreement last night, nothing more serious than a couple of minor spats. She had almost begun to think… No. Probably a dangerous train of thought. Especially under the circumstances.

Who would it be this time?She offered up a prayer to any powers that were listening that it not be Shampoo again.Akane's jealousy was even more dangerous than usual where the Amazon was concerned, and Ranma was aware of something slightly less concrete than a memeory involving Shampoo and moonlight.

There were worse alternatives than Shampoo, of course. If it was Kuno…

_Don't be a coward, Ranma_, she told herself firmly. _Open your eyes, and face it like a man._

She cautiously lifted one eyelid, and then another. Then she squeezed her eyes shut tight, and tried peeking again, just to be sure she hadn't been mistaken and the dark hair belonged to Kodachi or someone.

The sight that met her eyes remained unchanged. Akane's face, as peaceful and innocent as a child's, long lashes resting on her cheek. So close that Ranma's breath must be tangible on her skin.It wasAkane's arm, wrapped protectively around her, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

Ranma thought hard about this for a minute. She could not remember the preceding day very well, let alone the important events ofthe night,but it was somewhat obvious what must have happened. It was also obvious, by the way she felt her upper body pressing against Akane's side, what form she was in.

She tried to summon outrage over the offence to her manhood, but somehow that didn't quite work out. Slowly, a smug grin began to develop on her face. Ha. She had always suspected it.

There seemed only one thing to do, and so she did it. She inclined her face, very slightly, and let her lips touch Akane's mouth, pushed in slumber into a tempting pout.

She felt, rather than saw, Akane's eyes fly open, as her own eyes were instinctively drifting closed. Akane's mouth was very very soft, much softer than a tomboy who rarely wore lip gloss deserved. And sweet… Ranma's own lips parted slightly without her conscious will, caressing Akane's, and she felt a strange fluttering deep inside her when Akane began to return the kiss. Something to do with a female body, she supposed. She'd never felt like that when people tried to kiss her as a boy, but then, she'd never kissed Akane.

When their mouths at last parted, Ranma was pretty sure she looked as dazed as Akane did.

"Ranma." There was a question forming on Akane's face.

This was the point, Ranma realised, where one of them was supposed to say something to ruin it. Instead she said, "Sssh." And they were kissing again, more deeply and passionately this time. Ranma lifted a hand and stroked the side of Akane's face, letting the force of her kissing roll her slightly on top of the other girl, drowning in her mouth. When their lips broke again, Ranma let herself whisper "Good morning, sweetheart," before they joined the next kiss.

The endearment was new, but it felt… like the right thing to say, After all, they were lovers, weren't they? It was the only logical explanation for why she found herself in Akane's bed, and why she had been allowed to kiss her betrothed without suffering permanent physical injury.

Besides, right now, it really did feel like Akane was her sweetheart.

This time, she felt a tongue dart softly against her mouth. She opened herself to it, and their tongues touched, so softly, addictively… And she could feel her breasts pressing against Akane's, which was all wrong, of course, when she was really a boy, but so warm and soft and somehow utterly, perfectly right. The only thing that wasn't quite right was the feel of clothes between them, but their body-heat was burning right through that, and anyway, it would be quick enough to fix… Apparently they had managed it the night before. She really wished she could remember it.

Ranma wasn't sure which one of them was moaning into the kiss, and which was sighing. It half killed her to pull away, but it was time for Akane to say she loved him - her - and then, well… Ranma could feel herself smirking.

Akane looked up at her, her dreaminess tinged with confusion and… something indefinable. "Ranma, why were we…?"

Ranma opened her lips, meaning with all her heart to say the right thing for once. "I love you," would probably be a good start, or if that was too difficult still, something about how pretty Akane's short dark hair looked all mussed up like that, or about how happy she was that their quarrels had been sorted out, or a warning that their fathers would be insufferable if they found out about this.Instead, she heard herself saying, gleefully,

"I knew it! And you call me a pervert!"

"Huh?" Akane began to struggle into a sitting position. "What do you mean?"

"Well, look at me!" Ranma lifted one of her own full breasts in one hand, perilously close to Akane's face. She knew she was grinning like an idiot, but she could not help it, with happiness bubbling up inside her like this.Surely Akane could handle a little teasing when everything had just worked out so utterly, gloriously well. "I should have known that all I need do is wear a dress, and you'd fall into my arms."

Akane made a noise somewhere between a shriek and a yell. "What exactly are you saying?"

Ranma enfolded her in a bear hug. "I was right all along. Boy-hating, huh." She laughed with happiness that was verging on hysteria.

It took her a moment to realise that Akane was not laughing at all. She was not quick enough to forestall the blow. She fell back on the bed, slightly dizzy, as Akane leapt from it.

"Ranma you - you - _pervert!"_

Ranma floppedback on the bed, realising that something had just gone very wrong. When had it all changed? One moment, Akane had been in her arms, kissing her like there was no tomorrow, and now… Ranma rolled aside just in time, as a bedside table crashed down where her head had been.

"Get out!" Akane shrieked. Her face was red with fury, but Ranma was almost sure there were tears in her eyes. She just couldn't be certain why. The last few minutes made no sense to her at all. There was a strong impulse in her heart to crush her fiancée close and kiss the tears away again, but instincts of self-preservation worked against it.

"Ranma, did you hear me? Just get out of here before I kill you!"

"Akane, there must be some kind of mis-"

"GET OUT!"

She got out.

Before she could close the door, a small black pig scurried forward. He paused on the threshold, giving the human girl an angry, reproachful look, before scurrying inside and leaping into Akane's arms. The door slammed closed behind him.

"Oh, get lost, Ryoga," Ranma grumbled, but there was no heart in it. Not when she was almost sure she could hear Akane crying her heart out behind the closed door.

It was pretty much the last straw that Ryoga was in there with her. Ranma briefly considered marching in again with a kettle, but decided that would break some code of honour or friendship or something.

Just occasionally, it was a pain in the neckhaving adecent streak.

She sighed, and trudged, without enthusiasm, towards the bathroom, still trying to figure out where things had gone off-course.


	2. The morning after

Breakfast was a difficult meal. Ranma sat very still, letting his father steal as much of his food as he wanted, and trying not to react to the conversation going on around him. He was acutely aware of Akane, that damn pig held tight on her lap, brooding like an unexploded atom bomb in the corner.

It was all Akane's fault, in any case. The situation might have been resolved discreetly, but Akane in a violent mood,Ranma reflected bitterly, was anything but discreet. The entire household had heard her screaming at him to get out of her room, not to mention the flying furniture, and it was too much to ask that anything that happened in this house not become a subject for general discussion over breakfast.

"At least he was a _girl_ kitten." Kasumi, of course, determined, to the point of delusional insanity. to look on the bright side.

"Oh, of course, then, that makes it perfectly respectable," drawled Nabiki. She clicked beads on her abacus as she spoke. Ranma shuddered internally to think what profits precisely she was calculating. "I must say, though, it is a creative way to take advantage of a girl," she said admiringly.

Soun managed to stutter something about dishonour through his tears, and Kasumi petted his arm soothingly. "Of course they are too young, Father." She gave Ranma as disapproving a glance as she was capable of mustering.

Genma laughed heartily. "Like father, like son. You'd better remain a boy for the wedding though, my boy." He leaned towards his son and whispered all-too-audibly, "Or you might not legally inherit the dojo."

Ranma smacked him in the face, so hard that the larger man tumbled into the pond outside the door. He remained sitting still, glaring impassively at the panda who was holding up various insulting signs at him.

The blowrelieved his feelings at least a little.

It was little comfort, however, on the walk to school. Ranma had walked to school with a seething, silent Akane so many times that he should have been used to her bouts of not speaking to him by now. He was not quite sure what stubborn streak kept him pacing the fence by her side no matter how difficult relations were, but hostile company on the way to and from school had become almost routine. Besides, he was always forgiven, in the end.

It's just that there was something particularly pathetic about her stiff back and red eyes this morning.

This Akanewas just… so _different_ from the drowsy, amorous girl he had been kissing in the early hours of the morning. Ranma sighed, pressing the back of his neck with his hands. He had a fair idea now why his fiancée had been so upset. He supposed he had more or less sneaked into her bed under false pretences, worse than Ryoga pulling the same trick night after night; at least Ryoga never transformed back to try something with her. But in no way had it been Ranma's fault! He would never have done something so dishonorable intentionally. Of course he had thought… that…

He looked down at the girl marching rigidly beside him, and sighed. She was so much nicer when she was being kissed…

…and she had kissed back. Passionately. There was absolutely no doubt in Ranma's mind about that. The memory had fused itself into his brain, and would already replay at the most inconvenient moments. Like right now.

Somehow, he was not inclined to let the whole thing go this time. There had been too many near misses between them, and he was determined to resolve things for once and for all. They had _wanted_ to kiss each other, and they were just going to have to face up to that fact. Summoning all his courage, he leapt lightly down from the rail to land in front of Akane, facing her and blocking her route. Maybe pulling the alpha male routine would work. There was always a first time.

"Hey, Akane, you have to listen to me," he began in his most commanding tones.

Expressionlessly, Akane swung her arm out like a mallet and smashed him against a street light. Her progression down the street did not miss one angry stride.

Ranma curled up in the gutter for a few moments, wincing. He knew he healed incredibly fast, but… Akane had a good solid right-handed swing for someone who usually only worked out to relieve anger, and that lamp post was solid metal. Maybe he really should see the doctor instead of attending school this morning. Assuming he could avoid a certain bad-tempered panda assistant at the clinic, that was.

He could sort things out with Akanewhen school broke for lunch.

* * *

Akane sat in silence at her desk, working with feverish intensity. Her classmates kept a respectful distance from her, recognizing her mood.

Several of them were taking bets on what had caused the fight this time, and when she and Ranma would make up.Akane deliberately ignored them, although part of her was itching to go tell them that she would burn in hell for a thousand eternities rather than so much as speak that – _jerk's_ – name again. That, however, would display entirely too much interest in the situation. Ranma was not worth her time.

What kind of pervert pretended to be a cat in order totake advantageof a girl in girl form?

She tried very hard not to look at the clock on the wall. It was half past ten, and her so-called fiancé had still not arrived at school. Not that she was concerned. She didn't care what that stupidlecher did at all, and if anyone thought she was going to marry him after all that, then they could - they could just –

The point of her pencil crumbled into fragments of lead, and she stared blankly at the hole she had driven into her paper.

She caught a whisper from behind her. "…the moment Shampoo… back in his arms… forgiven… you know…" Blood burned in her face, and she leaned over to let her bangs obscure her expression a little.

Maybe she had been a little too forgiving of Ranma's insensitivity on other occasions, if she was to be absolutely honest with herself. She wanted, she decided virtuously and with blatant untruth, to make her beloved father happy by complying with his wishes as to her marriage, so she overlooked Ranma's frequent failings. But surely there were _some_ limits as to what she should endure for the sake of family.

She wanted to kill him. Or herself.

This was different from the other times. This time it was not just her dignity or her feelings that had been bruised. Ranma was a brat, and in her heart she had become more or less reconciled to his charming obnoxiousness, even if she still blew up at times… well, all the time. But this time she had been more than just hurt or humiliated.

She had been violated.

How could she have been so stupid? To kiss Ranma at all, that had been unforgivable enough. She had given up another small part of power in the complicated game that was their erstwhile, laugh at the term, _love_ life. But to kiss him as a girl, that had been admitting entirely too much.

But –Ranma had looked so deceptively appealing, there in the half-darkness, her eyes made huge by shadows. And it had been nice, so much nicer than Akane had wanted to admit, to have this pretty girl who was, after all,_her _Ranma, trusting and wanting to be with her alone in her weird feline state. And the kiss…

Her kisses had felt sincere. Had felt passionate and sweet. Had felt like dreams fulfilled, true tenderness, true lust, true love…

And the kisses had been from a girl. And there was no doubt about it, that had been part of the sweetness… The softness of her lips, the smallness of her hands, the contrast between the firm muscled arms going around her and the pliant body pressing against hers… She had been so close to… to…

She abandoned her work and dropped her head in her hands with a sigh, uncaring that she had caused another flurry of betting behind her with her obvious depression. So Ranmahad figured out thatAkane liked girls as much, if not more, than boys. That wouldn't have been a disaster in itself, really, considering all the insults he flung at her on a daily basis. Better to be a dyke than undesirable. The problem was that, for a few precious moments, Akane had lowered all her defenses and let herself be a normal girl in love. She had letanother into the most secret, cherished part of her feelings.

Andthe otherhad flung it in her face and mocked her. And now everything was… tainted. Made ridiculous and ruined beyond recovery. Her innermost feelings, her engagement… Everything was a sick joke. Just like Akane.

She felt tears start in her eyes, but they were inconsequential compared to the burning rise arising in her heart yet again. What kind of boy would turn himself into a girl and make a pass at his own fiancée, merely in order to expose her as a lesbian? That was twisted and… cruel. More cruel than she would ever have suspected Ranma, even at his most unbearably cocky and provocative, of being.

"Stupid pervert," she whispered to herself.


	3. a penny earned

"Ranma Saotome."

The five syllables seemed to suck the sunshine and oxygen from the air they floated in, replacing it with desolation and deep fury. They somehow contrived to be cold and hot at the same time, dark and dense, a cry of pain and a challenge.

Ranma rolled his eyes. "Hello to you too, Ryoga."

He narrowed his eyes, only partly because the other was posing against the sun, apparently as to appear even more dark and ominous. He was still confused, and not in the mood for a confrontation with Ryoga, especially as he was pretty sure what the confrontation would be about. He decided to give in to malice instead. "Just out of curiosity, where do you think you're going this time?"

Ryoga was not to be confused so easily. "To find you, dishonourable cur that you are."

"Well, it's 11 a.m., so I should say I'd be at school," Ranma offered helpfully. "It's – that way." He pointed in the direction the school actually resided, although he was aware it was purely inconsequential what direction you chose to give Ryoga. He might as well point to the sky, for all the help it would give his rival. "It's a nice brisk walk. You should get there in a month or so, easy."

"Do not mock me." The red parasol skimmed towards Ranma's face so quickly that it almost evaded sight and with crushing force, but he was already behind the other boy before it had time to return to Ryoga's hand.

"C'mon, Ryoga, at least tell me why you're so mad with me," he pleaded. Playing dumb would sometimes do the trickwhen nothing else would. With both Ryoga and Akane around blaming him every time a dead leaf fell from a tree, Ranma was getting good at evasion.

He was also a pro at another kind of evasion, which was lucky under the circumstances. His rival threw off a skull-crushing punch, but Ranma flipped away before it could land.

"Can you ask?" Ryoga was trembling with outrage, even as he flung himself into the next attack. "You used false pretences to creep into the bed of the girl I love, and dishonour her purity."

Ranma was stung into retaliation. "Well, you can talk, Charlotte."

Ryoga, characteristically, ignored him. His foot kicked out, hard, but it was already no good. Ranma had him pinned to the ground, balanced carefully on the back of his neck.

"Now, I've had a really hard day, and it's not even lunch time yet, so would you just – cool – _down_!" He did not actually mention the bucket of floor cleaner his father had left on the steps of the doctor's office, but a jerk of Ryoga's head between his ankles made sure the other boy registered his intentions.

The other boy remained defiant. After all, if nothing else, P-chan still had very sharp teeth. "Akane comes to no harm by me, neither in reputation nor spirit. You – you made her _cry_." His tone made it clear as the crime Ranma himself knew in his heart it was.

Ranma'sshoulders sagged. "I still don't know why she gotall thatupset. She makes no sense sometimes." The eternal lament… He should have it carved on his forehead.

"You must have done something to her!" Ryoga took advantage of his own rage and Ranma's distraction to throw him off. Ranma flew through the air and, his fate holding true, landed head first in the bucket of water. She came back up to her feet, spluttering.

"I swear I don't know what I did wrong!" she wailed. "One moment we were kissing, and the next she's screaming at me to get out."

"You forced your kisses on Akane? It's farworse than I imagined!" Ryoga seemed, for the moment, too appalled to actually move forward and kill her.

Ranma knew his petrifaction would not last. She hastened to distract him by chatter. It was not that she couldn't still defeat Ryoga easily in this form, but she really wasn't in the mood for a fight. The most frustrating thing about Ryoga was that he was so often in the right, which turned victories against him a little sour. "She was kissing me back, you idiot! And then all of a sudden, she's throwing things at me. I don't know why," she whined, clasping her hands and doing her best to look pathetically feminine and unhittable.

"You claim you don't know why? Ha!" Ryoga began, then suddenly hesitated. Some of his righteous fury faded. "But Ranma, I saw you when you entered and left the room. You were like… this." The red parasol gestured at Ranma's curves.

Ranma shrugged. "Sure. You know I can't get through a day without getting soaked," she added sulkily. "As if it wasn't embarrassing enough that I thought I was a cat, it had to be a girl-kitty." No wonder Akane despises me, she thought resentfully. What a misbegotten idiot I must have seemed. But that still doesn't explain why she kissed me back.

"She kissed you while you were a girl? But then…" Darkness fell over Ryoga's face. "She must truly love you, to not reject you in that form. Unworthy as you are."

Ranma shrugged her narrow shoulders. "Either that, or she's a dyke," she said.

"You are saying she would not have kissed you if you were in your true form?" Ryoga asked carefully.

"I guess so." Lightning struck. "Hey, that's pretty insulting!" She drew her brows together fiercely. "I'm cute as my real self too, aren't I?" she demanded of Ryoga.

He flushed. "You're still the same conceited, dishonourablejerk whether you're a boy or a girl," he muttered, avoiding the question.

Ranma tried not to look too smug at Ryoga's obvious embarrassment, and failed miserably. "Boy or girl, I'm gorgeous," she declared confidently. "So Akane would still have kissed me if I was a boy… Right?" She looked somewhat anxiously at Ryoga. "Right?"

Ryoga, his blushes fading a little, looked uncomfortable. "Akane has the courage and virtue of a lion," he said at last, leaving aside the question of whether lions really were paragons of virtue. "But she is also innocent. Perhaps with you in your female form, she felt safe… and did not realise until too late what a threat to her purity you truly are!" he finished in a rush, his anger obviously building again.

Ranma stared at him wide-eyed, considering his words. It was not an explanation which would have occurred to her; after all, Akane had liked her far better when she thought she was really a girl, before things had started to go wrong with them, so long ago.She had to admit thatRyoga's explanation did make sense, in a way. Although…

"I'm not a threat to Akane!" she protested. "I've never even made a pass at the unsexy tomboy."

Ryoga's battle-aura was slowly increasing in intensity. "Until last night."

"Yeah, until –" Ranma sighed and flipped out of the way of the parasol. It was looking increasingly unlikely that she was going to get back to school in time for lunch.

* * *

Nabiki Tendosat at her desk, the model of a well-behaved and studious schoolgirl. Inserted neatly into her text book were several freshly developed photographs, which she was shiftingintently through, careful not to catch her teacher's attention. It took all of her acting skill not to let a cat-like smile play over her innocent features. She contentedly twisted her pencil in its sharpener, making its point extra-sharp.

Her profits had been, if not nonexistent, lower than usual over the last few days, and a girl like Nabiki had serious demands on her purse to deal with. It had been all the business with Mariko and the martial arts cheerleading that had given her inspiration. Ranma and Akane had been quite sweet together for a while, in their violent confrontational manner, and Mariko at least had obviously assumed they were a lesbian couple. The effect on the male population of the school had been electric. And Nabiki had overheard enough speculations about what those two got up to when Ranma was in his female form to realise that there was a huge, untapped source of wealth just begging for an entrepreneurial woman to insert the pump.

If boys had a fetish, however inexplicable, who was Nabiki to deny them the chance to enjoy it? She owed it to the world to fulfill their needs.

She really had been hoping for nothing more than a few snaps of feline Ranma being kittenishly affectionate with his fiancée. Now… she devoutly blessed the savvy and lack of moral inhibitions that had caused her to put hidden cameras in her dear little sister's room.

What Nabiki had hidden between the pages of her textbook was pure gold.

The class ended, and Nabiki gathered up her possessions quickly. There were quite a few boys in school, and a couple of girls, that she suspected would pay well for her candid snaps. But there was always one person she could rely on to always have the desire, and the cash, to make Nabiki a very happy woman.

"Hey, Kuno-baby," she drawled, laying a small hand on her classmate's huge shoulder.

The kendo champion paused in his composition, and whirled on her. "Why do you interrupt my poetic contemplations and assault me with your undesired presence, Nabiki Tendo? Do you not know my time is precious?"

She fanned the photos in a carefully controlled and practiced movement, flashing their contents for a split second, then snapping them together in her palm. "I guess you're not interested in these, then," she said sadly. "Never mind. See you around, Kuno-baby."

He had frozen, his eyes wide. Nabiki idly wondered if even she, bored by martial arts as she was, could knock him over without effort when he was like this. "How much?"

She smiled sweetly, reviewing the afternoon's classes in her mind. Nothing she couldn't stand to miss. "Buy me ice-cream, and we'll discuss terms."

A little later, Nabiki was glowing at the pile of money in front of her, while finishing up her third sundae. Kuno was eating up the photos with his eyes in a way that made her, frankly, a little uncomfortable. Maybe it really was morally questionable, to sell pictures of your own baby sister in bed kissing another girl to the boy who stalked them both.

She touched the money, and her conscience was assuaged by its magical presence. Akane and Ranma could deal with Kuno, as they always had. Someone in her slapdash family had to keep her head out of the clouds and provide for them. Not that Nabiki ever shared much of her ill-gotten wealth with her family, but that was just the way it went. Surely she deserved adecent percentagefor all her hard work.

Kuno had abruptly started to weep.

"Aw, Kuno-baby. Don't take it so hard," she consoled. He was almost cute, heartbroken like that. The great big, beautiful, muscular baby. "Isn't this supposed to be every guy's fantasy or something?"

He lifted a face streaming with tears to her. "Poor, beauteous Akane Tendo! And my innocent pigtailed goddess! They despaired of ever winning my love, and in their heartbreak, have turned to each other for comfort! If only they knew how I really felt…" He leapt to his feet, bristling with new energy. "Such purity… Such sweetness… Never fear, my true loves! I, Tatewaki Kuno, the Blue Thunder of Furikan High, will save you both and heal your broken hearts!"

He rushed from the room, as desultory applause started among the other customers.

Nabiki stared after him for a moment, with something like awe. Then she went back to eating her ice-cream and counting her profits.

It wasn't like any of it was really _her _problem.


	4. a kiss is just a kiss

After interminable hours the school day ended, still with no sign of Ranma.

For Akane, trapped her private hell of fury and grief, the last bell was a blessed release. Of course, Ranma was probably still waiting for her at home, but at least she could escape the "friends" who were openly speculating about their relationship. She was running almost before she left the building, needing to race out her frustration and humiliation, lose it all in the pounding of her feet against the road, in the stretching of well-trained muscles.

It was probably not a good time for Kuno to accost her. But then, Akane would have told you that there was no good time for her to encounter her most persistent, if polyamorous, suitor.

He materialised in front of her. "Ah, Akane Tendo! Yes, run into my arms!" He flung his arms wide. "Find your solace in my love, beauteous Akane; there is no reason for my darlings to seek consolation in any embrace but my own. My arms are wide enough for both!"

As her fist caught him sharply under the jaw and sent him flying, Akane idly wondered what her upper classman was ranting about this time. Not that Kuno made much sense at the best of times. It was not worth interrupting her run.

She rushed onwards, her school bag bouncing wildly with her speed, the flow of air against her hot cheeks soothing. If she was crying at all, the tears were smashed on the breeze, and did not linger to humiliate her.

Until she turned a corner at top speed and crashed straight into a solid male form.

"Aargh!" she shrieked, tumbling headlong. The boy she had smacked into fell under her as her hands automatically reached to grasp his shoulders for balance, and she landed awkwardly, her breasts pressed against his chest and his face inches below hers.

"A- Akane!" stammered Ryoga, his handsome face deepening to red.

Akane blushed just as furiously as she clambered awkwardly off her friend, kneeling and dusting off her pinafore. But there was no reason to blush. It was not as if she had fallen into Kuno's arms and would have to spend the next few minutes violently empathising that she meant nothing by it. It was only Ryoga, after all. Ryoga was her friend, and the most pure-hearted person she knew. There was no way it would even occur to him to take advantage of an accident like that.

"I'm sorry, Ryoga," she said softly, straightening her blouse. "I'm so clumsy." _Stupid clumsy tomboy_, Ranma's ever present voice echoed in her head. She shook her thick crop of hair to dust the echoes away.

"You're not clumsy, Akane," Ryoga said, with husky earnestness. "You're one of the most graceful people I know."

"Eh, that's not true." She smiled gratefully at him as he rose and offered her a hand to her feet. Ryoga was always chivalrous… Such a contrast to a certain other boy. And he always made her feel better, rather than cutting her self confidence away from under her. She squeezed his hand for a moment before she released it, and his cheeks darkened further with pleasure.

"It's been a rotten day. Would - would you walk me home?" she invited, hoping against hope that her own good sense of direction would outweigh his curse. She felt a sudden need for sympathetic company. She was too old to put her head in Kasumi's lap and cry, no matter how much she wanted

"I was going to pay you and your family a visit in any case," Ryoga said gravely. Akane decided against pointing out that he was headed in the wrong direction; instead, she gently pulled him around to face homewards, and released his hand. She thought he sighed softly, but she was probably imagining it.

It wasn't as though holding the hand of a tomboy like her was anything for a nice boy to sigh over. Insane morons like Kuno did not exactly count.

* * *

"Well, oh well. That was worth returning to school for, wasn't it?"

Kuno looked up into the laughing face of Nabiki, the girl's hangers-on giggling behind her. He frowned sternly up at them.

"An inexperienced and sweet girl naturally displays a degree of fetching modesty and shyness. You would not understand that, Nabiki Tendo." He pulled himself to his feet with ostentatious dignity, his expensive kendo robes still flowing around him.

The girl shrugged, unabashed. "I think you need a little help here." She paused, her expression all too obviously calculating. "You see, Kuno baby, you forget one tiny little cog in your schemes." Some indefinable emotion glittered in her eyes. "Ranma."

"Ranma? How is that cur involved?"

She shrugged gracefully. "It was Ranma's fault that the pig-tailed girl and Akane did –" she glanced at her friends, and hesitated – "what they did. After all, he is engaged to Akane, and the pig-tailed girl…" she hesitated, a playful grin crossing her features, "acts entirely in accordance with Ranma's wishes."

"Is this true?" Kuno's brows drew close with outrage. "I will challenge Ranma, and pout an end to his domination of these precious girls! He will not be able to triumph against the skill of the Blue Thunder of Furikan High!" He prepared to sweep away.

Nabiki halted his departure, placing a small hand on his chest. Kuno was not able to ignore the call of chivalry by pushing aside any woman, even one as evil as the middle Tendo daughter. He glared down at her. "Well?"

"I have a better idea." She smiled. "I suggest you send for more funds. This may well turn out to be expensive."

* * *

Ryoga matched his pace to Akane's shorter legs. He was almost certain that they were going the wrong way, but he was not going to argue about walkingby the side ofhis beloved. Maybe she wanted to go for icecream or something first.

He tried not to stare at her, at the vivid, sulky little face with the reddened brown eyes. He was almost sure she had been crying again. He was going to _kill _Ranma if that was true.

Ryogamarched with his head down, trying to sort out feelings that blurred muddily into each other. Anger with Ranma, yes, but overlaid by the warm glow that suffused him whether in pig or human form, wheneverAkane noticed him with kindness. There was still abreathless, heatedhappiness at the memory of her body pressed against his, his hand being squeezed in her small one. But beneath all that...

Desperation, fading into despair.

Why hadAkane kissed Ranma in her female form? It was not really somethingRyoga could ask her outright, but it pricked poisonously at his consciousness.

"Akane," he said at last, still uncertain of the right words to use. "You know that if anything ever upsets you, or if you ever need my help, I'm there for you."

She smiled up at him through her fringe of dark hair. "Thanks. I knew I could count on you. Sometimes I think that you're the best of all my friends, Ryoga."

A shot of sweet pain went straight into his heart. Akane, of all people, could hurt him effortlessly, and kiss it better at the same time. The fact that she was unconscious of her power only made it all the more poignant. "There is nothing I can do to help you now?"

"Not really. I made a stupid mistake, and now I'm paying for it." Her voice was still soft and sad, but suddenly she paused in her tracks, and turned to face a street lamp. Her hand formed into a fist and slammed out, visibly bending the pole. Despite his concern at her depression, Ryoga was impressed by her sheer strength. "I'm such an idiot!"

"Akane, no." He reached out for her without thinking, taking one of her shoulders in each hand and turning her to face him. "Please tell me what's wrong. As your best of friends."

"I kissed Ranma." Akane sank her face in her hands, Ryoga's own hands still grasping her shoulders firmly. "I'm such an idiot… I'm so ashamed. I kissed her."

The words still cut like a scalding knife, but he blinked back the tears, and managed to say faintly. "There is no shame in that. He is your fiancé, after all." Some little voice deep inside him was screaming denial, but he could ignore it for Akane's sake.

"Didn't you hear me? I said 'her.'" Akane lowered her hands and looked defiantly up at him, her brown eyes swimming with humiliated tears. "Do you despise me too, now?"

"I could never despise you, Akane," he said. He had some difficulty speaking, but that, of all things, was true. A desperate need to wipe the pain from her eyes made him add, "What you did only proves your nobility of spirit. There is no shame in loving someone… even Ranma… for what they are, or in pitying him for his curse."

A look of hope shot across Akane's face. "You're right. If you love someone, you should accept them in any form they take." Her expression darkened for a moment. "Not that I love Ranma. But if I loved someone else, I would love them even if they were in the form of… " She waved a hand vaguely, nearly clipping him across the face. "An old ugly man. Or… an animal!"

Ryoga could not be blamed for what he did next. In fact, he did not feel he hand any control in the matter.

Akane's lips were very soft under his own, softer than he could have dreamed, and they tasted of salty tears. He held the embrace for a long moment, feeling her tense form relax under his hands, as her lips tentatively responded.

His head began to whirl. He was kissing Akane… and she was kissing back. What would he say when their lips parted? He didn't want to ask her to date with him, because then he would sound like a less arrogant Kuno. But it was probably premature to ask her to marry him. She was still in high school, after all.

She sighed against his mouth, and parted her lips. The touch of her tongue nearly made him faint.

Oh, Akane would look so beautiful in a misty veil. Or even more so in a formal wedding kimono…

He was completely unprepared for the sudden push of Akane's hands against his chest. He looked down into eyes that were no longer inches from tears, but hot and narrow.

"Is that what you all think of me?" she shouted, her voice cracking with fury and pain. "That I am so easy that I will fall into the arms of anyone I like?" She snatched up her case and ran down the street, her pinafore flapping around her.

Ryoga looked helplessly after her, depression threatening to overwhelm him. For just a moment, he had thought…

Anyone she liked? But that meant…

He turned confidently in the direction that he just knew a flower seller's stand lay.

**Tbc**. _Ah, Ranma will actually be in the next chapter, I promise faithfully s/he'll be. ;)_


	5. put your trust in the moon

AN: The theories Nabiki feeds Ranma with about the causes of what ails Akane have been proffered to me as well. Bitter? Who, me?

As always, to my dearest beloved, for being largely responsible for my Ranma obsession.

**

* * *

**

"Akane dear, what's wrong?" Kasumi paused in drying the dishes and came to the kitchen door as a tearful hurricane flung herself towards the stairs. Her youngest sister did not pause in her mad rush, so Kasumi shook her head sadly and returned to her work. The young ones had probably had another lover's quarrel, the darling things.

She sighed, shaking her pretty head. It would be nice if Akane and Ranma would calm down a little, and then she would really have a new little brother. But, after all, she reflected comfortably, they were still young, and everything would work out in the end. For the moment, at least Ranma's many fiancées provided an endless source of amusement in Kasumi's otherwise quiet, if happy, life.

She smiled to herself. She would make the poor babies a special dinner to cheer them up. Kasumi had endless faith in the ability of good food to heal any wrongs, and she was usually right.

"P-chan? P-chan!" Akane called with increasing desperation, searching frantically for her pet. In the end, however, she had to admit to herself that her little pig had gone on one of his periodic walkabouts. She sniffled to herself, shutting herself up in her bedroom. She really could have used a cuddle right now. She thought about going back down to Kasumi, but she couldn't face her sister's unremitting cheerfulness and good nature at the moment. Her father, she knew, was no good to her whatsoever. He had too much invested in her betrothal to be sympathetic about a quarrel with her betrothed, especially when Akane had no intention whatsover of reconciling, ever.

She sank down on her bed, and picked up one of her favourite toys, a large pink stuffed pig. She had always liked pigs; they weren't pretty at all, but they were intelligent and lovable all the same. And she was certainly not going to analyse that thought, for fear of making herself cry again.

Guilt and shame flooded over her. She had no right to yell at Ryoga. He had only kissed her out of pity, after all. Probably the only reason he had not rejected her outright was for fear that he would further disrupt her sense of femininity.Ryoga was always so very kind to her. And in response, she had accused him of taking advantage of her, when it had been…

…so very much the other way around.

She was not quite at the level of mental instability that would induce her to talk to a toy, but she lifted it up and looked into its glassy eyes as she thought. So, she had needed, on some level, to kiss a boy, to make up for kissingRanma. And she had been sad and confused, and Ryoga had been looking at her with such gentleness and sympathy on his handsome face, that it had just seemed the simplest thing to do.

Was kissing a dearly beloved friend such a very terrible thing to do? She was sure Ryoga would never rub her feelings in it… unlike _some _other people she could name.

She sighed, and flopped back on her bed. The truth was, kissing Ryoga had been very nice, but something had not been right about it, had held her back in frozen panic. Kissing Ranma has been liquid and sweet and burning all at once… everything Ryoga's gentle mouth had not been. While Ryoga... Akane remembered the solid muscular warmth of him, the shy gentleness of his mouth, as if he had been terrified of breaking her with a kiss.

Theimportant questionwas, then, whether the difference lay in who she had been kissing, ot the sex of the person she had kissed.

She pressed her fist to her forehead, letting her mind drift back to… certain comments. After all, she had been mocked as a dyke ever since she had been a small child, barely filling her first gi. Nabiki's unrestrained glee at the engagement, as she pointed out that a girl who hated boys would be better off with a fiancé who could turn into a girl;bBeing asked to play Romeo in the school play, because she was as good as a boy; Shampoo's lip curled in disdain as she asked if the pervert-girl only liked girl Ranma; Nabiki suggesting that Ranma should keep his curse, to make the honeymoon more interesting… Everyone had seemed to know, in one sense, while having no idea at all in another.

Come to think of it, Nabiki was surfacing quite often inAkane's reminiscences. That was disturbing in itself, because the middle Tendo daughter had excellent instincts for people'svulnerable spots. If Nabiki had pinpointed Akane as a self-closeted lesbian, then it was hard not to wonder if she was right. Especially considering… well… everything.

Akane thoughtfullythwacked the pig against her bedroom wall. So, she had kissed Ranma as a girl, and liked it. Not the end of the world, considering they were actually engaged… except that Ranma hated his girl side. So if Akane only liked girls, then the minute Ranma figured out how to curse his affliction, their marriage would be in serious trouble.

There were two ways to figure things out, she decided, without actually molesting poor Ryoga again. She could kiss Ranma as a boy. Her stomach clenched up with panic at the idea of giving him so much leverage over her. Or she could kiss another girl, and see if it drowned her senses like kissing Ranma. Sayuki wouldn't mind, maybe, or even Ukyo, if she could be misled into thinking it wasa way to break Akane's attachment to Ranma.

"What the hell am I thinking?"Akane muttered to herself, slamming the toy repeatedly against the wall. The last thing she needed was to further complicate matters. She could not believe she had just considered, even in passing, making out with one of Ranma's other fiancées. She wasn't quite _that_ desperate.

"I'm never kissing anyone ever again," she decided.

And Ranma had better not, either, if he knew what was good for him. _Neither _of them were allowed to go around kissing Ukyo, and that was final.

* * *

"Pop? Hey, Pop?" Ranma called, wandering somewhat disconsolately through the Tendo dwelling. He really needed to work off some excess tension somehow, and beating the proverbial unspeakable out of something always seemed to work for Akane. As Happsai had been absent lately, no doubt on some mission of evil, Genma seemed the obvious opponent.

Neither man nor panda was to be found, however, and Ranma's odd depression increased. Somehow, it seemd worsened by hearing Akane's voice echo his calls in the house, aimed at P-chan rather than Genma. She wasridiculously devoted to thatridiculous pig, and it was all Ranma's fault for allowing the situation to occur while it was still possible to sort it out.

Sighing, Ranma retreated to his room. He growled at the slender figure sprawled on his bed, seemingly immersed in a magazine.

"Why, hello there, Ranma," Nabiki said imperturbably. "Do come in and make yourself at home."

"What are you doing here?"

She lifted an eyebrow. "Helping you, of course."

Ranma folded his arms. "Now, why do I have difficulty believing that?"

"I have no idea. After all, my first concern has always been the welfare of my loving home." Nabiki closed the magazine and propped herself up on the elbow. "You know, you really should make things up with Akane."

"No offence, but it's none of your business."

"It's more my business than you think. After all, do you suppose I want to be the one who ends up marrying you?" She smiled as Ranma shuddered at certain memories. "Exactly. Listen up, Ranma: you really need to make up with Akane quickly. I mean, listen to her now."

There was a long silence, in which the only sound other than Kasumi rattling dishes in the kitchen was Akane's plaintive calls for her pet. Ranma tried not to glower too much.

"_Someone _is back in town," Nabiki said. "Someone who may, say we say, be rather pleased to know that affairs between you and my little sister are in an unfriendlystate. I'd advise making up immediately." She waved her magazine. "It says here that flowers are usually a good first step. I'd take it under consideration. And besides, there's something you should know about my sister's somewhat unstable mood right now. I can tell you how to keep Akane in a much sweeter mood for much longer than flowers could ever guarantee."

"What?"

Nabiki invitingly patted Ranma's bed. "Take a seat, Ranma. This might end up expensive."

* * *

Ryoga breathed a sigh of relief, clutching to his chest a bouquet of lilies. Lilies as lovely and pure as Akane himself, he decided, despite some qualms about the originality of the thought or whether Akane could really be compared to flowers at all. It had only taken him just under two hours to find the flower stall, he reflected with pride. Now, if he could just recall the way to the Tendo dojo…

He drifted into a dream sequence, with flowers and Akane in starring roles. Perhaps, if the fates smiled on him, another kiss or embrace – but he hardly dared to think further on that theme. It was too much happiness for one fragile heart to hold.

He was rudely interrupted by a foot landing in the nape of his neck. As his face smashed into the street, Ryoga was vaguely aware of flowers being snatched from his hands, and a cheery "Thanks, pal!" in a very familiar voice.

Ryoga smashed his fist into the ground, and the road shattered in a three metre wide circle.

Passers-by carefully stepped around the strange boy causing so much destruction while weeping bitterly. Otherwise, no one paid him any mind.

* * *

Akane felt like hell. For once, her physical discomfort was worse than her ruffled emotions. She should have realised it was coming on; she had been more sensitive and temperamental than usual even for her. Now, the inevitable cramps were beginning to make themselves felt as well. She longed for a long, hot bath more than anything. Maybe she could just slip under the water, and never come out, assuming that no one was currently using the bathroom for transformative purposes.

Now all she had to do was find the energy to get up and go prepare her bath – or call Kasumi and ask her to run it for her.

She tried to ignore the knocking at her window, but in the end it was too annoying, and she was forced to turn around. Ranma was dangling upside down from her window frame, a bouquet of lilies in his hands. He tossed them at her, and she automatically caught them.

"Here."

"Flowers?" She attempted to regain her composure, despite the blush that was already forming. "If you think you can get around me just like that-"

"Listen, Akane," Ranma interrupted. "I don't wanna make a big deal out of this, okay? I'm… hrmm… sorry," he finished very quietly.

"You're sorry?" She paused in inhaling the delicate fragrance of the flowers, and narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "Do you actually know what you're apologising for this time?"

Ranma swing slowly back and forth in the window. "I'm sorry for whatever I did or said to upset you, okay? Look, it's none of my business if you like girls or not. Can't we just forget it ever happened and go back to being how we were? After all, we were both half-asleep, so it didn't count for nothing." Upside-down blue-grey eyes looked hopefully at her.

"Hmm," she replied. "Back to how we were?"

"Yeah. We can forget all that kissing nonsense and the engagement and just… whatever."

Akane lifted the flowers to her face, considering. "I guess we both have done things lately that would be better forgotten," she agreed softly. "Okay, then. As we were. Oh, and Ranma?"

"Yeah?'

"Get out of my room!" Her foot smashed into his midriff, and he went flying.

As she gathered her bath things, she smiled at the sound of splashing, and a female voice lifted in aggrieved rantings. She was rather glad to have her life back in its familiar order, or disorder, as the case might be.

She ignored the uneasy sensation that the past could not be undone quite so easily. Probably the sick feeling in her stomach was only… hormonal.

* * *

Nabiki chose to walk home from school alone the next day, dismissing her followers withthe usualairy excuse of 'business.' She busied herself with her books for a while, timing herself to leave just after her little sister and future brother-in-law left the school.

She had, she noticed smugly, been correct in her internal calendar. Akane had looked more than a little pale all day, and her steps had lagged. More than once during the day, Nabiki's sharp eyes had caught her resting a hand on the small of her own back, or hugging her stomach. She had noticed that Akane had even excused herself from volleyball, despite the protests of her team. Perfect timing.

What she had to count on now was, first, that Ranma would take her advice; secondly, that Akane would be feeling too ill and vulnerable – and secretly sick of the prolonged fighting – to refuse his help; and thirdly, that her estimation of Ranma's personality was correct.

Nabiki's calculations were rarely wrong.

It was not that she was incapable of feeling a little guilty over what she was planning. But Kuno had paid her well to keep Ranma out of the way for a month, and there was one logical way to achieve that. Besides, she was doing her dear little sister a favour. It was obvious to anyone with eyes that Akane preferred her fiancé to be her fiancée. What better gift to give their budding relationship, then a month or so for girlish bonding?

She liked Ryoga, but he wasn't her first choice for a brother-in-law. All that devotion around the house would be too sickening.

She heard a squeak from around the next corner. "Ranma, what do you think you are doing?"

Nabiki hastened her steps. Yes, things were going to work out just fine.

Akane carefully measured her pace, counting her steps as if the trip was more bearable taken in tiny, numbered stages. Soon… soon, she would be home, and then she would take a long, hot bath, and not get out of bed again for days, she promised herself. Thank goodness it was Friday. She just wanted to crawl under the covers and try to sleep away the pulsing pain in her abdomen. Her emotional confusion had receded under the all-consuming presence of menstrual pain

She had been hyper-aware of Ranma ever since their unfortunate kisses, but now she was only barely conscious of him walking silently beside her, as usual adjusting his pace to meet hers. She had agreed to drop open hostilities as much through her guilt over the encounter with Ryoga than through the unexpected apology and flowers, but she stillhadn't felt quite comfortable in her fiancé's presence. Until now, when quite frankly, she couldn't care less about anything other than the feasibility of digging her ovaries out with a spoon.

Stupid cramps… stupid stupid cramps… stupid Ranma, who never had to suffer cramps. What she wouldn't give right now for a splash of hot water to take this agony away. Stupid Ranma didn't realise how lucky he was. Stupid, stupid Ranma. Stupid, stupid cramps. She kept up a mental chant of _stupid, stupid_ to match her steps.

"Hey, Akane?"

"What!" She hadn't meant to raise her voice, but oh, her middle hurt, and it leaked into her tone.

"C'mere." He swooped on her.

"Ranma, what do you think you are doing?" she squeaked, as she was picked up like a doll. Her first instinct was to kick him in the face and escape, but Ryoga's face flashed into her mind, and guilt left her passively waiting for an explanation. If it wasn't good enough, she decided, _then_ she would whack him with her satchel.

"Well, it's obvious you're sick, isn't it? I'm just helping." His own voice was overloud and defensive.

"Wh- what?"

"You're obviously not feeling well, so I thought I'd carry you home. Don't worry, you don't weigh too much for me," he added boastfully, then couldn't resist adding, "even if you could stand to lose a few pounds, Akane."

She thought about hitting him for the crack about her weight. Then she thought about the fact that he had noticed she was ill, and was actually carrying her home. The level of sensitivity involved was so far beyond Ranma's usual capacity that she doubted that she was justified in taking offence at his manner of offering help. And, besides, she felt so unsure of herself right now. At the worst possible moments, her memories would slip back to Ranma's soft curves pressed against her, Ryoga's cradling arms…

Now she was being held supported under knees and armpits by Ranma, as she had so many times before, his less curvy but definitely more muscular chest pressed against her side, and suddenly she was not quite sure how to react. Her cheeks were deep pink already.

But she really did not want to walk home. Her legs were watery and shaky, and she felt definitely fragile.

"Um… wouldn't it be easier to give me a piggyback ride?" she offered diffidently.

"Sure." He dropped her to the ground and relieved her of her school bag, then bent his knees so that she could wrap her arms around his shoulders. He stood again without effort, their bags winging from his arms, and started the trip home again. She relaxed, and even dared to snuggle in a little, feeling the heat of his skin through his thin top. After all, she had carried him – her – home like this herself, so it was nothing to worry about. All in all, it was… nice.

"Ranma?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks." She snuggled even closer.

"No problem." He swung the bags easily in his hands. "Wrong time of month, huh?"

"What?"

"I shoulda known. You've been so cranky lately. Well, more than usual," he amended cheerfully. "I thought you were just fussing about, you know, me kissing you and all, but I should have realised that it was just hormones making you be such a witch. I mean, you understand that, you know, kissing you was just a stupid mistake, right? It didn't mean nothing, and I won't ever do it again."

"Right." Akane concentrated on steadying her breath, and on her whitening knuckles as her hands dug into her companion's shirt.

Ranma, apparently encouraged by her silence, rambled on happily. "I'm glad you're being so good-tempered about accepting help for once, You know, though, you'll never make a decent martial artist if you let a few little women's problems hold you up like this."

"Really?"

"Yeah. You need to develop some endurance. You wouldn't see a man collapsing with a few cramps. Besides, it's your own fault, you know."

"In what way?" Akane half-whispered into his neck, his braided ponytail swinging against her lips. She resisted the urge to scalp him with her teeth.

"Menstrual pain is part of… of… body discomfort. You're uncomfortable with your femininity, so your body responds by rejecting its natural functions." He sounded as if he was reciting something he had learned by rote. "You don't see Kasumi lying up every month, now, do you?"

"Why do you think that would that be, Ranma?"

"Well, she's a real girl. If you'd accept the fact that you're a girl, instead of trying to be a man all the time, this little problem would clear right up."

"I see." Akane released her grip and slid to the ground. Ranma turned to face her, just in time to receive a well-aimed foot to the chin. He sailed gracefully over the fence.

"What was that for?" Ranma demanded, aggrieved, as she came up spluttering canal water.

"Why don't you show me how to be a real girl, then, if it's so easy?" Akane demanded.

"What a wonderful idea." Akane half-turned at the smooth voice, to see her sister hugging her satchel behind her. It was an uncomfortable reminder that her own bag was currently floating in the canal next to Ranma. Stupid jerk, couldn't even save her books for her.

"What would be a wonderful idea would be for that ungrateful tomboy to try and realise when people are doing her a favour!" Ranma pulled herself back up the wall, her soaked clothes clinging to her once more voluptuous little body. For the thousandth time, Akane repressed a little stab of envy… and something else, something connected to memories of waking with that body pressed against hers.

Nabiki grinned, leaning on the wire fence. "Face it, Saotome. Every time you've had to be a girl for more than a few days, you've shattered to pieces. No way would you make it through even a single, er, cycle."

Ranma glared at her. "Why would I want to?" She straddled the fence, and favoured both sisters with a nasty look. Akane's temper had come off the boil, and she shifted her gaze uneasily between the other two girls, trying to figure out what was going on.

"Oh, you wouldn't. After all, it would be very embarrassing for everyone to find out that you couldn't deal with a little discomfort."

Ranma's blue-grey eyes were narrowed. "Come on, Nabiki. Why would I want to do that? It's… disgusting." She shuddered slightly.

"Oh really?" Nabiki shot a look at her sister. "Looks like Ranma has a fear of the female body, Akane. Do you think he's gay? – although I really shouldn't be asking you of all people about sexual orientation, after all. Or maybe he's just afraid of failure. I'd bet he'd wuss out at the first cramp."

"No way!" Ranma set her small shoulders back. "I wouldn't let that stop me for a minute. And I'm a far better girl than she is!"

"I'm a real girl, and by definition that makes me more feminine than you are!" snapped Akane.

"You wish."

Nabiki held up a hand. "A wager," she said softly.

"I already owe you more than Pop gives me in a month!" Ranma pointed out.

"But we can wager… favours." Nabiki froze him with a glance. "Don't you want me in your debt?"

Ranma hesistated, obviously aware of how useful that would be. "But what if I lose?" she asked, ignoring Akane's vehement protests.

"Then you owe me something. Some photos ought to do the trick."

The other girl relaxed. After all, Nabiki usually managed to get compromising photos of her… or him… without any deals. It wasn't so bad. "Terms?"

"A month. You have to take cold baths only, and avoid turning back, until you've finally… become a woman." Nabiki grinned. "No resetting your body with hot water. But don't bother… there's no way you could do it."

"Sure I can!" Ranma said, predictably. Her inability to admit to anything at all being beyond her was legendary.

"Then – it's a deal." Nabiki turned and strode away.

"Wait! I didn't mean I agreed or nothing!" Ranma cried, panicked. "This is a stupid idea! I'm not doing it!" she shrieked at the departing figure.

Akane sighed. "Come on, Ranma. We'd better get you home."

Ranma glowered back at her. "I'm not doing it," she muttered. "I'm not."

Nabiki's laughter floated back on the breeze.

tbc


End file.
